Academy Art Museum’s Community Outreach during COVID-19 Quarantine
The Academy Art Museum is providing various forms of art engagement while the museum is tentatively closed until April 30, 2020.
The sudden arrival of the coronavirus (Covid–19) on the Eastern Shore has left people of all ages shocked and confused. Children, in particular, may be feeling sad, angry, frustrated or bored.
The Museum is dedicated to providing normalcy and inspiration during this difficult time by putting together free art kits for distribution to children who depend on free lunches. The kits are attractively packaged in pizza boxes and include varying assortments of paper, glue sticks, colored pencils, rulers, packets of Model Magic (air-dry clay), pipe cleaners, journals and other art materials. The hope is that children will enjoy sorting through the contents and feel the warm glow of accomplishment that engaging in creative pursuits can bring. Currently, the kits can be picked up at Easton Elementary-Dobson, at the corner of Dover and Aurora Streets, where free lunches are provided to school children.
The Museum’s Development, Curatorial and Education departments have joined forces to create Art at Home weekly emails that feature multiple ways to engage the community. Children’s projects are designed to be low-cost and feature easily-available materials, such as marionettes made from card stock. Adult projects include on-line tutorials and weekly creative contests on the Museum’s social media channels. “Out of the Vault” features a new piece of artwork from the Museum’s permanent collection. The Museum recently launched an Instagram interactive Q&A program called #askAAM. Simply post your questions on the Museum’s Instagram story, and one of the Museum’s staff will reply with an informative answer.
To keep the youngest of the Museum’s community engaged, the educators of the Mini Masters Early Enrichment Program have been mailing messages and project kits to its pre-K aged children and engaging them through online conversations and activities. Ann Hansen, Director of Mini Masters, said “I think it shows our loyalty to these great families, even if it’s just a little here and there.”
To learn more about the Academy Art Museum’s Community Outreach, please contact Jennifer Chrzanowski, Development Manager at jchrzanowski@academyartmuseum.org.
About the Academy Art Museum: As the premier art museum on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Academy Art Museum presents high-quality exhibitions and a full range of art classes for visitors of all ages. Past exhibitions have featured artists such as James Turrell, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Pat Steir and Richard Diebenkorn. The Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The permanent collection focuses on works on paper by American and European artists from four centuries. Arts educational programs range from life drawing lessons to digital art instruction, and include lunchtime and cocktail hour concerts, lectures and special art events, as well as a Fall Craft Show. The Museum also provides arts education to public and private school children from the region.